Fincher called it a “huge and sweeping and tragic story.” Although Fincher said producers could probably do three seasons alone on the brutal crimes, they had to choose to focus on when the FBI was brought into the case and the multi-jurisdictional challenges the team encountered then.

Photo:
Patrick Harbron/Netflix

“It’s a divided battlefield and they are coming in to try to throw this federal umbrella over everything to make everybody feel OK about sharing information,” he explained.

Fincher also confirmed rumors that the second season will include appearances by Charlie Manson and Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz.

While the first season focused on the birth of the FBI’s criminal psychology and criminal profiling division, in the second season the notion of serial killers has begun to creep into the social consciousness as the FBI struggles to bring their theoretical ideas and notions into real-world active investigations, where investigators are dealing with multiple jurisdictions, traumatized witnesses, and a terrified public.

“All of these things come into play with season 2 with the attempt to take behavioral analysis and put it on its feet as not... the last call when 12 archive boxes have landed under your desk and are either going to public storage or someone is going to take an interest, when you are on the front lines and you are dealing with a mounting body count and the multi-jurisdictional oversight of somebody who is very creative,” Fincher explained.

Fincher also discussed his new collaboration with Andrew Dominik, the director of “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”

“I got a call from Andrew Dominik who had seen the first season and said, ‘I’d really like to do something with Season 2,'” Fincher explained. “We brought him in. When God gives you a really great idea, take it.”

At its heart, Fincher said the series remains about narcissism and the notion of needing to be seen.

“We really wanted to… drive a stake through the heart of the idea of the serial killer as this sort of glorified comic book supervillain,” he said of the series’ premise.

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